mamaroots

yarn along

I am loving knitting, and of course you know I love books, so the two shall marry and I get to participate in my first Wednesday yarn along- such a great idea!  On the knitting side I am working on a beer koozie for my brother in law's birthday.  Hoping to finish it off the needles tonight and into the mail tomorrow.  It is a variation of the pattern in the book Knitting with Balls that I am tweeking just a bit.

Today I have been reading and re-reading Thundercake by Patricia Polacco since we are in the midst of thunderstorms here in the midwest and it is a cake inspriation for Mr Silas' birthday cake tomorrow. Thanks for joining me here and I look forward to making this a Wednesday regular!

go fish

Not too much foolin around here yesterday, but always a good excuse to break out Elsa Beskow Curious Fish, it always brings a smile on our face to celebrate Poisson d'Avril!  Seems like I had in my mind that some newer Elsa Beskow books were coming out this spring but alas I think I was fooled!  So we will stick with this oldie but goodie!

they say it is spring

They say it is spring, I think it may have lost its way though!  One sure sign of spring though is that the girls have increased their egg production just a tad.  We half way joked about taking on some more girls but we are having trouble keeping up with all the egg.  Time to research more recipes this week.

We have had to switch to collecting eggs in a basket.  Gathering in the hands hasn't been working so we got out the basket.  Yet we are still getting the hang of that and Silas accidentally dropped the basket leaving us with 7 eggs cracked that needed to be opened right away. The is certainly a sign of the first day of spring!

With a little bit of the stomach flu that found Jasper also on the same day, those eggs have come in handy making my mama's remedy for getting over the flu; chicken soup with gleise.  This is a dumpling that is a variation of German Spaetzle- always made me feel better along with Ginger Ale, black tea, and lots of crackers!

So needless to say it has been much more wintery than spring, Tangle still managed to pay a visit.  She herself if waking up from a long winter snooze!  Happy Spring to all of you- if you meet her along the way tell her to get on this way okay!

One of my favorite books for the season "How Robin Saved Spring" with illustrations by the incredible Nicoletta Ceccoli try and see if you can track that one down.  

make your own rainbows

It may have be in the 30's, cloudy, and rainy today but that has not stopped us from making our own rainbows.  Rainbow #1- threw caution to the wind and got some Fruit Loops for the boys for first breakfast. Needless to say they were so excited!  Sugar cereals can't seem to cross the threshold in our house.  I am not sure why, there seems to be some high-tech crap detecting laser that zaps it.  It came with house.  But sneaky leprechauns obivously know who to disengaged the laser system- tricksters.  Good thing second breakfast was little more healthy with omelets!

Rainbow #2 is very fiber oriented.  While hanging out with my dear crafty friends this past weekend I experimented with yarn wrapping letters.  I have been wanting to try this for a while and this was a good intro.  I would like to do this with sticks for the boys this summer.  

This inspired Jasper and I to do some rainbow stick weaving.  We are taking turns and doing little by little but really enjoying it.  Our own little version of yarn bombing.  Thanks to Natural Suburbia for the great tutorial.  

A good re-reading of some leprechaun books accompanied corned beef, cabbage, and warm soad bread in our bellies was just right.  All in all I think we had a good amount of luck today.  Maybe tomorrow we will have some sun so we can experiment and make real rainbows!

answered memos

Memo to the gods of the children's book world- would desire a new beautifully illustrated book about chickens, Russia, plains farming, a crafty mama, and a favorite teacup for good measure.  

Reply to said memo:  Nora's Chicks by Patricia MacLachlan.  Yep, you did it Candlewick Press, you published just the sweetest book for me this spring.  You even put dandelions in her hand on the cover- love it!  I really think you will too.  I just might have to get this for my mama for her birthday to remind her of her childhood farming with right next to her Russian grandparents.  

Needless to say, I highly recommend this for you, especially if you are starting the chicken farming dance this spring!  

It seems crazy that almost a year ago we welcomed 8 amazing birds into our world!  I guess you could say it was just a matter of time, after all my mama had chickens,  and her mama, and her mama . . .well you get the picture.  This is one of my favorite pictures of my grandma Ruth- check out all of those eggs!  Note the babushka!  

Last summer when I went up to see the farm and also visit with my father's sister, she pulled out this picture that she had of my mama had sent her when I was little of our chickens.  I am taking watering can notes!  

So in order to thank the gods of children's books I thought it was time to do a fresh give-away.  Just a sweet little wood chick for you this spring.  Just leave a comment here between now and Saturday night at midnight for a chance to win- bonus entry for following me on Facebook or Twitter- best of luck my friends! 

Congrats to eidolons- lucky #5- winner of the Chick- please e-mail me your address to send her to you!

snakes for tea

High Tea this afternoon had us enjoying a little snake learning time after our snake crafting time in celebration of Chinese New Year and the Year of the Snake.  We enjoyed learning a few things we did not know about snakes and then also a spot of tea.  We also decided to create a little spot on the table for the next few days with a felt fortune cookie and some blank slips of paper to leave each other New Year fortunes!  

If you would like to make a snake of your own to explore some stories, I created another Once Upon a Table project for you.  Enjoy!

Download Once Upon a Table-Snake

 

Snake Reading

Just a fun little reading list of some snake fiction books for you to enjoy during Chinese New Year and during the extent of the Year of the Snake!  Snake Once Upon a Table Craft coming tomorrow.  

Download Snake Reads

Day 10 of giving

Good morning friends, I will post the winner of the Raven this afternoon but wanted to share Day 10 of Giving- a wonderful book about our friend Jack Frost!  Midnight deadline and good luck!

Day Eight of giving

Hello Friends!  Congrats to lucky #3- Nancy- you are the winner of the patch- so glad to hear that there is still so much love for midwives out there!

So a little bit of a delay on posting the offering for today because it ... is...SNOWING!  Yay, I have been waiting for this!  So for today a sweet little book Tracks in the Snow- midnight deadline and good luck!

12-12-12- let the giving begin

Happy 12-12-12!  The giving begins today.  Each day until Christmas Eve I will have a little something that I will be giving away.  Each day the give away will end at midnight and I will post the winner the next morning.  Just leave a comment each day and you can get one bonus entry for following me on Facebook or Twitter.  Enjoy!  

Today is a mini version of The Story of the Snow Children.  Good Luck!